Will gratuities soon be removed altogether ?

[lovescarborough]

I have just seen that P & O have announced they will not be charging any gratuities or service charges from May 2019. There is a thread on this on the P & O board too. I wonder who will be next ?

[ghstudio]

and you are posting this on the Celebrity board....the company that eliminated bottled water from Aqua Class...surely you jest :)

[hopeless holiday booker]

Gratuities in the way that cruise companies do it is not a British thing. We still consider gratuities something that you give an individual for good service in an envelope from you to them. I've obviously got used to this over the years and don't give it a second thought but when P&O decide not to do it anymore I think that's their reason. I hope in return they'll pay their staff more and the cruise will cost roughly £200 more.

 

Cunard may follow but I can't see anyone else - lets wait and see.

[cruisestitch]

Will gratuities soon be removed altogether? No

[sandancer]

And P&O are also saying that they will not increase the cruise fares when this is implemented hmmmmm.....

 

 

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[jimzgoldfinch]

The daily service charge should be included in the standard cost of the cruise. Likewise drink prices etc should include the 18% charge.

 

Any gratuities should be optional and up to the individual how much they pay.

[happy 2 b cruising]

and you are posting this on the Celebrity board....the company that eliminated bottled water from Aqua Class...surely you jest :)

 

Right on point! Hope this doesn’t start another loooong thread why certain people think it is ok not to have automatic tips added to their daily bills. I have seen to many people get excellent service and demand that their tips be refunded the last night of the cruise. There is another thread on Bad Behavior of guests, I guess this will go under cheap behavior. Some people do give tips in envelopes but I bet not the daily suggested amount. We always give in addition for good service, don’t understand why anyone thinks it is ok to remove tips after they have had good service.

[bigbenboys]

Current rates

 

These rates are for the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage in the UK. The rates change every April. As of April 2018. You call £7.83 a living wage.

25 and over £7.83

21 to 24 £7.38

18 to 20 £5.90

Under 18 £4.20

Apprentice £3.70

[jimzgoldfinch]

Current rates

 

These rates are for the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage in the UK. The rates change every April. As of April 2018. You call £7.83 a living wage.

25 and over £7.83

21 to 24 £7.38

18 to 20 £5.90

Under 18 £4.20

Apprentice £3.70

 

The above rates are per hour. Someone over 25 working 35 hours per week can expect to earn around £14,250 per annum. You can earn £11,850 pa before paying tax. Some national insurance will be paid on salaries over £162 per week.

 

People in services industry are likely to receive tips and gratuities in addition.

[maxsales]

And P&O are also saying that they will not increase the cruise fares when this is implemented hmmmmm.....

 

 

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Haha Right up there with "you can keep your doctor"!:D:D:D:D

[Denny01]

If Celebrity removed the gratuities, we’d all complain about the increase in cost when they transfer it over to the SR pricing. And when we compare the SR prices with other LInes that maintains gratuities, we’d complain even more.

 

And look at this way, all those people (none on this thread of course) who remove the gratuity can save lots of money, pretending they wil give it all in envelopes directly.........at the cost of the working staff who give them great service and need that ‘extra’ money for their families at home they are separated from. But don’t worry, people who remove the gratuity blame the Line for not paying their staff enough and feel just fine.

 

And please, lets not go the ‘we don’t do that back home’ excuse. Part of why most of us cruise is to enjoy other cultures and how they do things. I guess we enjoy other cultural norms just so they don’t cost us a dime.

 

Den

[Mythbuster]

I have just seen that P & O have announced they will not be charging any gratuities or service charges from May 2019. There is a thread on this on the P & O board too. I wonder who will be next ?

P&O has very few cruises originating from the US where the pre-paid tipping is considered normal and acceptable. So it is very unlikely that the major US based cruise line (RCCL, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity, etc.) will follow suit.

[hcat]

Another tipping thread....here we go.

 

We just added the pre paid grats to our cruise fare in advance of final payment....for some reason it had not been added previously,

 

So much easier that way and no need to see it added daily.

It covers many people guests do not meet who are providing service...

 

For us it's a given...we supplement with cash for good service ...

[bigbenboys]

P&O Princess Cruises is a UK base company, but it is own by Carnival Corp. Carnival is based in Florida, USA.

[bigbenboys]

The above rates are per hour. Someone over 25 working 35 hours per week can expect to earn around £14,250 per annum. You can earn £11,850 pa before paying tax. Some national insurance will be paid on salaries over £162 per week.

 

People in services industry are likely to receive tips and gratuities in addition.

 

But are not the servers on a cruise ship providing a services.

In the UK I might put a pound or 2 on my bed in the hotel room for the maids. At the pub I might round up and leave some change.

 

Here is another list of UK wages. It is not just McD's.

 

McDonald's Salaries in the United Kingdom | Indeed.co.uk

[jimzgoldfinch]

But are not the servers on a cruise ship providing a services.

In the UK I might put a pound or 2 on my bed in the hotel room for the maids. At the pub I might round up and leave some change.

 

Here is another list of UK wages. It is not just McD's.

 

McDonald's Salaries in the United Kingdom | Indeed.co.uk

 

It is not customary to tip hotel maid nor is it customary to tip bar staff in a pub in the U.K.

[DianeandMark]

In Australia since December 2016 Celebrity and RC have included gratuities in the fares. P&O and Carnival did it before then but not sure of timing.

Always paid the gratuities when I booked but I know a lot of Aussies were against this which is why it was changed.

I didn’t see a marked change in prices and we no longer have loooong threads on social media complaining about the gratuity issue.

 

Cheers, Diane

 

 

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[sippican]

There is already an exception - Gratuities are included in the price of the Xpedition.

[Cheezus]

I guess we enjoy other cultural norms just so they don’t cost us a dime.

 

Den

 

 

Love it. ;)

[DYKWIA]

Right on point! Hope this doesn’t start another loooong thread why certain people think it is ok not to have automatic tips added to their daily bills......

 

I agree

 

...I have seen to many people get excellent service and demand that their tips be refunded the last night of the cruise. There is another thread on Bad Behavior of guests, I guess this will go under cheap behavior. Some people do give tips in envelopes but I bet not the daily suggested amount. We always give in addition for good service, don’t understand why anyone thinks it is ok to remove tips after they have had good service.

 

and then you hurl in the opening salvo :rolleyes:

[ScubesDad]

This issue has been ignored / avoided by the cruise lines far too long

 

 

The daily service charge should be included in the standard cost of the cruise. Likewise drink prices etc should include the 18% charge.

 

Any gratuities should be optional and up to the individual how much they pay.

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

The cruise lines have created this dilemma where the front line staff are the ones who lose. Roll the "service charge" into the state room price and under no circumstances should the service charges be removed. If you feel you have received above average service than at your discretion you can proceed appropriately as you wish.

 

Entirely too much time is spent trying to figure out ways to get out of paying the service charge because it is not what we do at home. Everyone knows how the system works on a cruise; if you sign up for the cruise you have accepted the system.

 

Our daughter just returned from 4 years of working in the UK, and we have travelled four times to visit with her and travel in the UK. We tried as diligently as we could to adhere to the system in place and not to deviate too much to our North American habits. However, what we did notice very often a "service charge" was added to our bill when we were in a proper restaurant with table service, but nothing was ever taken in a pub where we ordered at the bar and took our drinks back to our table and someone delivered our food shortly thereafter. Often the service was better in the pub than in the "full service" restaurant. Confusing to say the least. This wasn't just in major centres it often happened in little cafes and bistro in smaller towns and villages.

 

As an exercise I went back and looked at the last two cruises we did and the "service charge" was about 4.5% of our total cruise price. (Imperfect math as the cruise was priced in CDN$ and the service charge was in US$, and the service charge was included as we were travelling in a suite.) We received outstanding service from our two butlers and stateroom attendants on those cruises, and they both received additional gratuity funds and acknowledgement cards sent to their supervisors at the end of the cruise.

 

Pay all employees a reasonable wage and price the cruise accordingly. If the service staff no longer have to worry about getting stiffed by the client the level of service will undoubtedly improve; any employees who deliver subpar performance can then be dealt with as performance issues arise. This approach may well reduce the incidence of obnoxious client behaviors which seem to be the new topic of discussion on these boards, as employees will no longer have (as many) fears in dealing with the difficult few.

 

Just my two cents

[jimzgoldfinch]

Our daughter just returned from 4 years of working in the UK, and we have travelled four times to visit with her and travel in the UK. We tried as diligently as we could to adhere to the system in place and not to deviate too much to our North American habits. However, what we did notice very often a "service charge" was added to our bill when we were in a proper restaurant with table service, but nothing was ever taken in a pub where we ordered at the bar and took our drinks back to our table and someone delivered our food shortly thereafter. Often the service was better in the pub than in the "full service" restaurant. Confusing to say the least. This wasn't just in major centres it often happened in little cafes and bistro in smaller towns and villages.

 

The “Automatic Service charge” is common practice especially where groups are 6 or more. The service charge is optional and can be removed but where you are happy with service you accept this. Otherwise you are free to tip, I would normally leave at least 10 - 15% where no service charge is applied. Tips are not required in pubs but I’m sure they’ll be happily accepted.